If
you like all the smashing and crashing that went on
in Godzilla: Destroy all Monsters, then you're going
to love Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. You
gonna' smile big or me smash in face, unnerstand?

Developers,
Radical Entertainment, saw so much potential when
they did the movie-inspired version of the Incredible
Hulk that they decided to do another one. It's not
a sequel so much as it is a revisiting of the legend.
They've listened to the criticism and have delivered
a game that's full of action - which means it's short
on Banner and long on Hulk. This is the best Hulk
game ever. Nuff said?

Incredible
Hulk: Ultimate Destruction takes place in a city and
out in the badlands. In both environments there are
plenty of things to smash. There is a freedom to the
game that evokes GTA but the city isn't as large.
It's kind of like a big movie set. There are limitations
but the non-linear approach to the gameplay allows
you to discover the adventure on your own. In this
way, you are the Hulk, and events are triggered through
your actions.

While
you can run around and smash the crap out of things
such as cars, lampposts, trees, fences, bridges and
buildings, there's some strategy to the gameplay.
You can actually use some of the things that you destroy
to help you. For instance you can use items such as
bus for a shield. Or you can knock down a radio antenna
and hurl it like a spear. The Hulk has lots of moves
that makes him very flexible. With combos, chains,
weapon attacks and throws, the Hulk is able to defend
himself against a variety of enemies and their weapons.

His
immediate enemies are the local law enforcers that
shoot at him with various guns. Later on he faces
the army that is armed with tanks, rocket launchers,
missiles, harrier jets and choppers. Hulk can jump
and avoid some of these attacks but eventually he's
going to have to get a hold of some of these weapons
and destroy them with his bare hands. You ain't seen
nothing until you've seen him take down a harrier
jet.

Bosses
increase the level of difficulty. Some of these guys
can take out an entire city block with one attack.
The Hulk takes on a giant mech specifically designed
to make the Hulk an anti-Hulk. Other enemies such
as the Abomination and Mercury will definitely give
your button pushing skills a workout. It's not that
the gameplay requires button mashing as much as it
requires a methodical approach to using the right
moves and combos. This may stand in contrast to the
Hulk's portrayal of a brain-dead behemoth but remember
that his fighting skills are almost supernaturally
controlled. If there's one thing the Hulk is hard-wired
to perform, instinctively, if not Zen-like, is combat.
It's going to take some time to perfect but it's fun
trying. The free range mode lets you get in as much
practice as you need.

Paul
Jennings lends his talents to the production and Ron
Perlman provides us with some excellent voiceovers.
The result is a game that looks good and sounds good
with a storyline that would do Marvel proud. It's
like a "greatest hits" of comic book scenes
come to life.

There
are a few flaws here and there but they are so minor
that the only reason I mention them is to prove that
I'm not biased. Sure I love the Hulk and I love this
game but I can overlook a bit of gameplay repetition.
At least it's the kind of gameplay repetition that
I want repeated. Plenty of unlockables and a documentary
of the making of the game will ensure that you get
your money's worth.

Preview
by Vaughn

Updated
Hands On: Sometimes we game reviewers are
just like you. Oh sure, sometimes we get perks in
the mail like free games, t-shirts, toys, invites
to parties thrown by Sony....but sometimes we're just
like you and have to play game demos that we get in
magazines. Case in point: The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate
Destruction.

Much
like you I bought the latest edition of The Official
Xbox Magazine and much like you, I discarded the contents
and loaded the demo disk. You mean they write reviews
and previews and stuff? I never noticed either! I'm
just teasing. I like those guys and gals, except when
they let the watercooler guy review games. What's
up with just letting anyone review? Sure it works
for GamePro, but seriously....

The
two minute timed demo of TIHLUD is a gamma ray sized
blast and I salute Radical for giving us a game that
finally captures the raw power and sheer magnitude
of Lee & Kirby's creation. From the moment The
Hulk smashes down onto the city streets, it's all
out mayhem. As mentioned the demo is timed simply
due to Radical preferring you buy your own copy of
the game when it's released later this month and not
wanting to give you ultimate freedom running around
the Hulk's sandbox. Radical did the right thing by
releasing this demo. Since most gamers automatically
assume superhero games suck and Hulk games usually
really suck, this one would have been dead in the
water. But since gamers are taking out their frustrations
on this virtual New York and lovin every ever-lovin'
green minute of it, Radical, Sierra and Vivendi Universal
are going to sell a Hulk's load of these games. And
so they should; this is a superhero game done right
to the nth degree.

Our
Not-So-Jolly-Green-Giant is a towering menacing figure,
standing at least 10-12 feet tall compared to the
puny humans scrambling beneath his size 24s. He can
pick up any vehicles in his way, smash down buidings
with his fists, jump hundreds of feet in the air,
rips cars in half and wear them as fist protectors,
bowl over approaching enemies with street wreckage,
hurl buses, surf on buses and tanks, run up buildings,
climb up them with his fists...and the moves go on
and on, with each one more insane than the last. It's
good to be The Hulk because smashing stuff never felt
so incredibly satisfying.

While
Hulk is big, some of the enemies you'll face are even
bigger, giving you quite the challenge. During the
demo you'll find yourself face to face with a mech
who needs to be taught a lesson as well as annoying
little helicopter who Hulk just wants to smash. And
so he does.

I'm
not exactly sure how current a build the demo I played
is, but I did find that Hulk's lock on ability wasn't
very forgiving as it rarely allows you to target the
most immediate threat. Perhaps that will change in
the final version. Even if it doesn't, it's a minor
issue at best when compared to how many aspects Radical
got right.

Many
gamers are comparing this game to Treyarch's Spider-Man
2 and for the most part it's a worthy comparison,
although I suspect Hulk's world will be a tad larger.
Hulk even manages to crawl up walls although he does
it with much less finesse than Aunt May's favorite
nephew. While some similarities apply between both
gamers let me just say that copying a successful is
always a great idea. Perhaps more game developers
should do it.

Radical
definitely has a mega hit on their hands. The only
competition in the near future for Superhero game
of the year is Treyarch's upcoming Ultimate Spider-Man.
It remains to be seen just exactly how satisfying
it is to tear up the city streets as Venom when compared
to The Hulk. If you haven't already played the demo
(available for PS2 and Xbox...sorry Cube owners, but
nobody forced you to by that Nintendo product) I strongly
suggest you hunt it out today. And since you'll be
at the game store anyway, you had better put in your
pre-order for next week because The Hulk is coming
to town and he's bringing presence. Get it? Presence?
Yeah, whatever. You make a better joke.

Preview
by Vaughn

Previous
Preview: Fresh from the Game Developers Conference
(GDC) comes some new info on the next Hulk game, due
out in August and based on the comic book character,
not the movie CG monster.

As
mentioned below the game now titled The Incredible
Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, takes place in a "sandbox"
setting which means the game world is open to you
at anytime and you won't be limited by having to reach
other levels to progress - much like Spider-Man 2
for the consoles.

The
subtitle Ultimate Destruction is certainly appropriate
as gamers will be allowed to destroy everything. The
term anti-hero comes to mind and although it's been
overused, it works for a character like The Hulk who
doesn't really know the difference
between right and wrong. He's just big, dumb and pissed
off and he wants to smash!! So the developers at Radical
allow you to do just that! Rip cars in half, throw
them, knock buildings over etc. The more bad ass you
are, the more authority figures you'll have to contend
with - which of course means "more destructive".

That's
good stuff. We can related to that, but one thing
that raised a red flag was Radical's mention of Hulk
Golf. Say what? Anyway as it was explained, Hulk is
in the desert and he has this giant golf ball which
he has to use incredible force to get it into a hole
miles away. Uh, okay. That sounds decidedly stupid
and inane and the reason it does, is simply because
it is stupid and inane - at least in theory. If Radical
spends ist time on things like Hulk Golf and doesn't
allow the player to play the game as Bruce Banner
and turn into the Hulk when things go sour, then another
developer has completely missed out on an opportunity
which every gamer who plays a superhero game wants.
Gamers don't want to instantly be the hero - they
want to be able to change INTO that hero at will.
The only game to EVER
allow this was Superman on the Atari 2600 and maybe
if memory serves correctly, Superman on the NES (which
sucked). Developers need to realize that the secret
identity of a hero isn't just a plot device - it's
there for dramatic tension.

Well,
diatribes aside, we'll be keeping a close eye on this
title as the release draws near. You can now scroll
down and see the pretty new screenshots. Go ahead.

Preview
by Vaughn

No
your eyes aren't deceiving you - it's a brand new
game featuring the comic book emerald behemoth! We're
not sure the last game was starring the movie version
of the Hulk, because they were both computer generated....but
in any case, this not so jolly green giant is based
on Marvel's favorite pissed off monster.

What's
so exciting about this particular game is the "sandbox"
style gameplay. This means that like Grand Theft Auto
and other games like it, you are free to do anything
you want to and go anywhere. It doesn't mean that
you Hulk will be carjacking vehicles and talking smack
to dope dealers. Duh! One of the most exciting aspects
is Hulk's never before used ability (at least in videogames)
to jump incredibly high in the air to get himself
around. As well, Hulk will be able to punch his gigantic
fists of fury into the sides of buildings and crawl
up them like Spider-Man. Not sure why he'd bother,
since he could leap them in a single bound, but whatever
floats your boat, I guess. Let me just say for the
record that I promise to never use that "float
your boat" saying ever again.

"Our
collaboration with Marvel on The Incredible Hulk will
give gamers the opportunity to play as one of the
most powerful and exciting characters to ever exist,"
said Michael Pole, EVP, Worldwide Studios, VU Games.
"The Incredible Hulk will deliver unlimited power
and freedom immersed in an authentic world that will
engage Hulk fans and core gamers."

"We
are very excited to have Radical developing this new
Hulk title, continuing another blockbuster Marvel
game franchise," said Ames Kirshen, Director
Of Video Game Development at Marvel Enterprises. "Vivendi
Universal Games and Radical are creating an interactive
world where the player will have all of the freedoms
and larger than life abilities of the Hulk in enormous
and interactive sandbox environments which
really capture the essence of the character."

In
The Incredible Hulk, players can jump anywhere, climb
anything and smash everything -- even destroy entire
buildings. Gamers will create their own Hulk-powered
weapons from anything they can rip out of the environment,
unlock new moves to battle huge enemies in epic boss
fights and experience deep and varied game elements
by exploring free-roaming non-mission and side mission
gameplay.

The
Incredible Hulk is being developed by Radical Games,
creators the successful The Simpsons: Hit & Run,
and will see a release in Summer 2005 for the PlayStation
2, Xbox